Broken Hill Gaara Arts 'Fans' exhibition opens tonight in a joint show

Art Scene
Gaara Arts (Gaara) members are putting on another exhibition which opens this evening at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery.  The "Common Threads, The Things That Bind Us Together" fans exhibition represents something a little different to traditional oil or acrylic on canvas.  It is instead, art applied to a variety of different shaped 'fans'.

"Press Release" information is as follows (supplied by Gaara's publicity officer and Gaara artist - Maureen Clark)

"Fanfare For Gaara

Newly elected President of Gaara Arts Inc, Robyn Taylor, is happy to announce her group’s latest artistic endeavours to be showcased at the Regional Art Gallery opening this Thursday at 6pm.

“The ladies in Gaara Arts have been working hard to paint, or otherwise decorate, a range of fans which are now on display at the Gallery”, she said. “The creativity and talent within the group is wonderful although some of the artists saw the concept as a bit daunting, at first. The results are great.”

Robyn is from a property near White Cliffs and divides her time between working in Broken Hill and her various art projects. “I’ve always been interested in art”, she explained. “Ever since I won an Easter art competition at primary school,” she laughed. “I’m interested in trying all forms of art. Leadlighting, intaglio, lino prints and coloured inks...I’ve dabbled in them all. Mainly though, I enjoy painting in a realistic style in acrylics –mostly landscapes. Although I may have to stretch my skills towards portraiture for another Gaara exhibition in the near future”.

Broadening the experiences and skills of women artists who live in our rural and remote community is an aim of Gaara which has been operating since 2008. The artists are encouraged to push the boundaries of their art and to respond to contemporary issues facing women in society.

Robyn says she enjoys the diverse range within the group, with artists working in fabric, sculptures, pen and ink, 3D and pastels, as well as the more common oils and acrylics.

“I’m honoured to be the president of Gaara, a talented group of ladies who support and learn from each other.”

The “Common Threads, The Things That Bind Us Together” exhibition will be opened by
Fay Attard."

Local paper the Barrier Daily Truth covered the story yesterday 27 March, see link here for more coverage.

The exhibition details are as follows - 

Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery - 404-408 Argent Street, Broken Hill

Opens 6.00 pm Thursday 28 March 2013
Note the gallery is closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day

Exhibition dates - Saturday 30 April - Sunday 12 May 2013

Gallery hours - Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday & Sunday 11am - 4pm

Entry by gold coin donation.

I'm in Melbourne so unfortunately I can't make it.  As always, if you can get along to the opening tonight, or the exhibition at some stage, readers would love to hear your comments on what you thought of the exhibition.

Three other exhibitions are also officially opening tonight.  "Not the way home" will be opened by the exhibition's curator Owen Craven who is also the editor of "Artist Profile Magazine".  Acclaimed local artist Jim Paterson will present a selection of 44 drawings and paintings which he has completed in the last 10 years.  Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery's Installation Officer Darren Parker has also put together a show featuring watercolours from the Gallery's collection, which are rarely on show due to their tendency to fade.  Well known artists on show include Hans Heysen, Daryl Lindsay and Kenneth Jack.

Further exhibition details can be found here on the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery events page.

Enjoy, cheers, Jane D

Broken Hill’s Gaara Arts Celebrates Upcoming National Water Week

Art Scene



Town Hall Facade - Argent Street
Courtesy of the Barrier Daily Truth



Broken Hill’s prolific all female art group Gaara Arts Inc. is holding another exhibition 20 September to 21 October 2012 to celebrate upcoming National Water Week which is immediately following the exhibition and runs from 21 -27 October.  The name of the exhibition is ‘Water, one drop at a time’.

Their thought provoking works are available for sale at the unique Town Hall Façade space located at 256 Argent Street, Broken Hill.  Prices range from $50 - $2,200.




“Before the Rain” and “After the Rain”
by Julie Anne Horsburgh
courtesy Gaara

Ten artists are exhibiting, they are Jenny Cattonar, Maureen Clark (the group's publicity officer), Deirdre Edwards, Angela Fitzpatrick, Julie Anne Horsburgh, Pauline McLennan, Wendy Martin, Betty Pearson (the group's President), Phyllis Ragenovich and Robyn Taylor.

"Cityscape a rainy night"
courtesy of artist Maureen Clark

The hours of opening are 10 am to 4 pm daily and entry is free.

Deirdre Edwards - "From Eagles View"
courtesy Gaara

Gaara Arts originally formed in 2008 as Women Artists of Broken Hill, under the auspice of Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and with direction from the then manager Bruce Tindale.  Gaara means “girls and art in regional areas”, and became the first incorporated women’s art group in Australia in May 2010.

Since forming, Gaara members have excelled in their art and some members have held solo exhibitions.

The exhibition sounds wonderful.  With the Silver City Show just finished for another year, why not pop down to the exhibition and take a look around.

To read about my article on Gaara's exhibition from earlier this year entitled "Plastic Lives: A Womans Tale" see here.

I wish all concerned every success with the exhibition.

Cheers, Jane D

International Women's Day 2012 Art exhibition in Broken Hill by Gaara Arts - opens 9 March

La Femme au Naturelle by
and courtesy of Maureen Clark

Art Scene

Straight from the Media Release -
Gaara Arts is a group of women who also happen to be Broken Hill artists.  Since forming in 2008, they have become an independent, incorporated entity, producing prolific work.  Primarily, they respond to issues that face women in society by raising community awareness of these issues through exhibitions of their artworks at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and other public venues. Biannually, an exhibition is timed to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.  In 2012, the theme of the International Women’s Day exhibition is “Plastic Lives – A Woman’s Tale”.

The 40 works of art on display, in a variety of media, reveal a wide interpretation of this theme.  Add to this, an innovative move into multimedia and the scope of interpretation is broadened even further.

Each painting has been thoughtfully assessed by a poet who has then written an ekphrastic poem which seeks to interpret and, sometimes, confront their subjects.  Local Broken Hill poets joined with metropolitan and interstate scribes to compose their works which will hang beside the paintings in the main gallery of the Regional Art Gallery in Argent Street.

One such poet is Sheryl Persson, an ekphrastic poet who transcribes visual art into poetry. Sheryl’s poetry group, DiVerse, performs regularly at the National Gallery and the Art Gallery of NSW.  She has written a collection of poems, Scarcely Random, and has had articles and stories published widely.  Sheryl will join other poets and the Gaara artists in at the Gallery for the opening of the “Plastic Lives” exhibition at 6.30pm on Friday, March 9.  The exhibition will run until April 22^nd.

Betty Pearson is the President and Angela Fitzpatrick the Vice-President of Gaara for 2012, while established artists such as Jenny Cattonar, Deirdre Edwards and Wendy Martin act as mentors for other emerging painters.

The group is hoping to repeat the success of the opening of their previous exhibition, “One Barrow, One Shovel”, which attracted 200 people to the art and memorabilia show in December last year.

All I can add is that I wish I could be there on the opening night.  Luckily I will be back in Broken Hill at some point during the exhibition nonetheless, so I can’t wait to see it, it sounds quite fascinating.

Cheers, Jane D